Silas Marner

George Elliot's Silas Marner amazed me with its old time story, yet modern theme and chain of events.

One theme of this book is that your fate and destiny will find you under any circumstance because it is just meant to be. The book also teaches not to let an object rule your life because if something happens to it you will no longer have a life and chaos will ensue. The authors style is very easily flowing and it is easy and quick to read except for the old dialogue that goes on from time to time. This book is definitely unique because it focuses on a problem that many people have and that is the worship of money.

Some of the characters in Silas Marner are obviously Silas Marner a linen weaver who just wanted to be left alone because life had dealt him a poor hand. Another character in the story is Godfrey one of Squire Cass's sons and he is the peaceful good hearted son that rarely causes trouble, but his own personal family life is in turmoil. Then there is Dunsey the meddling, cheating, and problem child of the family known for his great debts and even reduces to stealing. He is the most interesting character in the story, but he is also the most disliked character too.

The setting of the story is in a country town with farms every where, horses, and beautiful scenery pretty much any old fashioned country town. I can relate to this setting very well because the town I live in is a medium sized country town with beautiful places and farms scattered randomly. When the author describes how dark it is without a lantern in the story it reminds of when it storms at my home and all power is knocked so nothing at all is seen except blind darkness.

In the plot it tells about Silas Marner and a little bit of his past that includes a wife and a best that betrayed him and caused him to leave his true home. The story tells of Silas being a lonely man and his only company is his loom, but soon he gains a friend and that friend is money. He spends every spare minute he has with his money and it relieves his loneliness. Though somehow something happens to his money and he can find it nowhere so he goes on an accusation spree. This whole time there are other events going on in the story like Dunsey trying to save his neck and cons his brother Godfrey into selling his horse to pay debt, and Godfrey trying to leave his wife and child for another woman so he can start off fresh in life again.

Silas Marner is a great book that I would only recommend to teenagers and up because of some of the ideas that go on with in the text, but it is no sense immoral it just has some older individualistic themes. It is not too long and tells a great story.